Smart backyard tech tour

Key Takeaways

[Music] I used to hate going outside. Mosquitoes, dead grass, no Wi-Fi. But now, my backyard runs on smart tech. From smart sprinklers to smart chicken coops, robot lawnmowers with laser vision to taking bird watching to the next level. I turned my garden into a second smart home. And yes, the chickens have their own cameras. Let's go check it out. Come on, lady. Come on. The best place to start with having a smart backyard is reliable Wi-Fi. I struggled for years with weak signals and expensive cellular data trying to keep things online until I installed the Eero Wi-Fi 7 outdoor router. Setup was super simple. I installed the first node in the porch, connecting it with an outdoor PoE cable, so power and Ethernet combined. ERO says that could actually get you 15,000 square ft of coverage, which is a lot, but I wanted to make sure I would get really strong signal out by the chicken coops for the cameras and the lawnmowers. So, I actually set up a second one out here. Now, I have speeds of up to 100 megabits per second all the way in the shed, which is more than enough to keep everything online. Having strong Wi-Fi in the backyard helps connect things like these robot lawnmowers, which we're going to check out now. So, one of the chores I am, well, okay, my family is most excited to delegate to the smart yard is mowing the lawn. I've had a lot of challenges getting robot lawnmowers to work well in my garden. I'm currently testing three. This is the Eovax Goat A3000 and then I have the Segue Navamo X3 and a Husqavana 420 series model. Eovax uses liar for navigation and mapping just like a robot vacuum does whereas the other two models use something called RTK which is sort of based on GPS. I have too many trees in my yard and they struggle to connect to the satellites. I also have very sandy soil and a dog that likes to dig for moles and leaves them potholes and they don't do very well with that and I quite often have to lift up beached robots kind of like robot vacuums in my house. It's interesting though, they just shave a little bit off the top. They use little razor blades under there instead of a big blade like you might get on a manual lawn mower. For me specifically, I've still not found a robot mower that works for my yard. These ones are doing good for now. I'm in the middle of testing them, but we'll see if anything can actually get me to that point where I can just relax and let it do all the work. [Music] Everyone loves a green lawn, but keeping it that way can mean wasting a lot of water. But there's a great solution. Smart sprinkler controllers. This is the Orbit Beehive, and this model is $180. They work with an internet connection to connect to local weather so that they can adapt and change your schedules based on whether it's going to rain or not. So that way they won't run your sprinklers right before a rainstorm and they definitely won't run your sprinklers during a rainstorm, which is like a personal pet peeve of mine. It's like you're wasting water, people. One of the things I really like about this model in particular is it has a physical control. So I can just come up here and turn the sprinklers on and off if I like. I can control this with the app. I can control it with a voice command. I actually set up an automation where when the temperature hits 90, it turns on the sprinklers by their chicken coupe to give them a little shower, which they appreciate. If you don't have inground sprinklers, a smart hose timer like these from Ratchio or Eve do the same job just with your garden hose. I think the biggest issue I have with them is how expensive they are. Cuz you can just buy a simple irrigation controller from Home Depot for like $40. So, $180 is quite a lot, but if you consider the savings that you could make from using a lot less water, but still having a green lawn, it's really a win-win. Now, let's talk about a solution to my biggest problem with the outdoors. The one thing I really hate about going outside are the mosquitoes. They eat me alive. They love my English blood. So, I was really excited to try out the Thermosel Live Smart Mosquito System that uses a synthetic version of chrysanthemum oil, which is known mosquito repellent, and it heats it up in these little canisters, and it creates a vapor that's odilus, so you have a zone of protection around you. Each one emanates for about 20 ft. And I have five here, which is the largest system. It could cover about 1,600 square feet. You can also control it with an app or voice control. So, I can just say, "Alexa, turn on live." And walk out into the backyard and know that I'm not going to get eaten alive by mosquitoes. And it's pet safe, too, which is nice. The downside is it's very expensive. And the refills are about $250 for a season, which is a lot of money. One thing about getting a pest company to come and spray my yard is that chickens are really sensitive to chemicals. And this is a great solution that won't harm them. So, let's go meet the ladies. I love my chickens, but keeping them safe is a full-time job. Unless you have a smart coupe. This is the Omelet Pro, and it has an automatic door that closes at sunset and opens at sunrise to keep them safe. I can also use an Alexa voice command. Plus, this has handles and wheels, so I can move it around the yard. Omelette also has this neat automatic feeder that also shuts at night and opens in the morning so that you don't have to worry about critters getting into their food. >> What was it like setting it up? >> It's a pain in the ass. This was the most complicated chicken coop we have ever built and my husband built one from scratch. I've also got a Ring camera set up in here. It does not have integrated cameras. So, I set up this solar powered camera. If anything happens at night, I can get an alert on my phone. So, this one is the largest model that they have, and I believe it starts around $4,200. Come and have a look here. This is the controller, and this actually has a light sensor built in, so it knows the time of day. And one thing I really like is whilst it has the automatic door, but it also has a manual door. So if anything isn't working with the automatic door, I have a backup. A step up in smarts, but down in size. This is the coupe. This has an automatic door as well, but it also has two integrated AI powered cameras. It uses something called Esteein AI that actually accurately identify cat, a dog, a raccoon, and I actually have a clip here of it detecting a psome. And then there's also another of it detecting a dog, but it was actually just the chicken with its wings really wide. So, like all AI, you know, take it with a grain of salt. It is iOS only though, the app that sends the notifications. So, android chicken lovers, you're out of luck. Here's a look at how my smart garden can help the wild birds. So, this is the bird buddy. We're going to get it set up. It is supposed to be a highde camera that shows us up close and personal video photos when the birds come and feed. We've also got a hummingbird feeder here. As you can see, there's some assembly required. So, I think I'm going to get some help and we're going to fast forward through this bit. instructions. Who needs those? >> Yeah. Okay. Oh, >> yeah. It'll do. All right. I've been trying to connect the camera for the Bird Buddy to the Bird Buddy app, and as usual, everything's going swimmingly, which is not the case. For some reason, we can't connect, but we're going to keep trying. In the meantime, I'm gonna get it set up in the feeder. That didn't work very well. Just all came out. Good thing I've got some birds here to clean it up for me. So, that was pretty straightforward. Everything's sturdy. Came together really easily. I like the build quality, and I'm excited to see what the uh video quality is like when we get to see some feathered friends. So, it took a bit of finagling to get the Bird Buddy to connect to Wi-Fi, but once up and running, it's been capturing some wonderful shots of cardinals, finches, and even a squirrel visiting my feeder. Sadly, we didn't get any hummingbirds, but the 2K image quality on the camera has been really impressive, and I love that the app uses AI to identify the birds, and I can even name each individual visitor, so I know when I have repeat guests. Let's talk food. Nothing better than grilling outside and enjoying an alfresco meal. But it is not fun to have to babysit your pork ribs all day. That is where smart grills come in handy. This is the Brisket Zeos 450, which is a Wi-Fi connected smart grill. Well, it's actually a smoker, but they call it a grill, but it smokes with wood pellets. It also has a meat probe. This can keep track of the temperature and turn the grill off when your meat is ready. The app has AI assistant that can help you cook. But basically what it's doing is using pre-programmed algorithms to cook your meat by adjusting the temperature as you might do manually. So it's very handsoff, which some pit masters would say is a travesty, but I find it a lot easier. I just throw the pork on the grill. Couple buttons in the app. 5 and 1 half hours later, perfect mouthwatering ribs. [Music] To keep the vibe going after dark, I need smart lighting. I've got Nanoleaf string lights and LifeEx string lights illuminating the porch. And I have this giant smart lamp post, which is perfect for a chicken disco party. [Music] This is super bright, 2,000 lumens, and it can radiate over 32 feet, so you can really light up the whole backyard. This light is very big. It's also $430, which is pretty expensive. So, all three of these lights work with Mattera, which means that I can control them in any of my smart homes ecosystems, which is nice. I've got them set up with Alexa right now, but they this could also work with Apple Home or Google Home or any matter compatible system. So, I really love the look of the Nano Leaf lights. They're this they almost look like little crystals hanging off of the trees. So, even when they're turned off, they still look decorative, which is nice cuz obviously not going to have lights on during the day. and it's nice to have a bit of ambiance. So, that's my smart backyard. While it isn't perfect, most of these gadgets make being here more enjoyable without taking away from what I love about the outdoors. I didn't get to go into a lot of detail about all of these products. So, if you want to find out more, check out my reviews on the verge.com. Thanks for watching. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and share if you want more smart home or smartyard ideas. Nailed it.